A Diego Forlan-less Mumbai City FC struggled to create openings as a 10-man Atletico de Kolkata defended expertly to enter the final for the second time in the Indian Super League history.
Despite having a lion’s share of the ball, Mumbai’s attackers were kept at bay and the match finished 0-0 at the Andheri Sports Complex on Tuesday. The first leg had finished 3-2 in ATK’s favour.
The first half was a feisty affair which saw 12 fouls being committed by the two sides. Sunil Chhetri came close to scoring after being through on goal but Debjit Majumder managed the situation with panache, cutting out the scoring angles for the veteran striker. The attempt by Chhetri was parried out by Majumder.
ATK were smart when Mumbai were in possession and didn’t allow any space for the Mumbai attackers to stray into the box. This meant that the ball had to circulate through the flanks. None of their long-range attempts were threatening enough to ruffle ATK’s feathers.
The away side’s left-back, Robert Lalthlamuana was sent off with a second yellow card, three minutes before the half-time whistle for a careless foul on Matias Defederico.
Despite having a one-man advantage, Mumbai’s attacks never looked like they were going to create any problems for ATK at the back. The inaugural winners were happy to let Mumbai have the ball.
It was not all ‘Parking the bus’ material from ATK either. Javi Lara came very close on the right after breaking through. Stephen Pearson also came close to breaking the deadlock with a shot from an acute angle on the left.
Jose Molina had got his tactics spot on and his team responded, staying compact between the midfield and the defensive line and working tirelessly. Jackichand Singh and Lucian Goian had half-chances but ATK held on to deservedly progress to their second final. The match ended with ugly scenes on the touchline with some pushing, shoving and even kicking, sparked off by ATK striker Juan Belencoso.
